


my hope fits better in your hands

by tigerlo



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Vanessa being a vet, and, and I think Charity Dingle thinks so too..., but ladies who are good at their jobs are HOT, is it?, that should be a trope, when she's not technically supposed to
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 20:05:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14776394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tigerlo/pseuds/tigerlo
Summary: Vanessa makes a career-threatening decision to attend an urgent call out while she’s still on suspension.Naturally, Charity tags along for moral support.





	my hope fits better in your hands

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fictorium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictorium/gifts).



> I originally intended this to be a mini fic but it kind of grew legs so I thought it was better to pop it up here than write a novel in a tumblr post. 
> 
> It was a ton of fun to write either way, so I hope this roughly fits the bill, friend!

-

 

 

“Babe, do you really think this is a good idea?” Charity asks as Vanessa rushes around the surgery, throwing a few supplies into a bag before pulling her coat on, wondering distantly whether this is the first time Charity has ever been the voice of reason, rather than the fuel on the fire.

 

They’d been sitting in the clinic, passing the last hour of the day, Charity having come over from the pub to perch on the corner of Vanessa’s desk while she waited for Vanessa to finish, distracting her from finishing any actual work when the call from one of the neighbouring farms had come in.

 

“It’s urgent, Charity,” Vanessa says, her heart thumping loudly in anticipation against her ribcage, double checking the bag in her hands before remembering a few final things and tossing them in too. “There’s no way the poor horse will make it unless I can get there, Rhona and Paddy are busy miles away, they’ll never get there in time.”

 

Vanessa knows it’s a risk, it’s a massive, _massive_ risk, attending this call out in the place of the others, that the RCVS could strip her of her title for good if they ever found out, but she can’t bear the thought of standing idly by while she knows there’s an animal suffering that she has the power to help.

 

She can see the conflict in Charity’s eyes when she looks to her too and she takes a moment to marvel at just how far they’ve come, to the point where Charity is actually worried about the possibility of Vanessa losing her job for good. She frowns for a moment before she gathers her coat too, and Vanessa stops in her frantic packing, confused.

 

“What are you-” Vanessa begins to ask before Charity cuts across her.

 

“I’m bloody well coming with you,” Charity grumbles, and it makes Vanessa soften, and pause. “If you’re going to get yourself into a load of trouble, it’s best there’s a witness who can speak in your defence, isn’t it? I’ll wait in the flamin’ car if I’m gonna be in the way, but I’m coming.”

 

She’d never expected it from Charity, not in a million years, this steadfast support, but she always has Vanessa’s back now, _always_ , even when Vanessa is blind to the fact that it needs covering.

 

“You’re….” Vanessa begins, still aghast, not actually sure how to finish the thought.

 

“Coming, Ness,” Charity says impatiently, waving her arms about to prompt Vanessa into moving again. “Yes, now hurry up, this was an emergency, wasn’t it?”

 

-

 

They get there just in time. It’s a close thing, an _extremely_ close thing, but Vanessa manages to deliver the foal without complication and save both it and the mother, much to her immense relief.

 

She can feel the adrenaline moving through her veins, thick and strong when she finishes, standing up from the floor of the barn to talk to the worry-stricken farmer. She’s covered in muck, hay stuck to every inch of her, exhausted but happier than she’s been in weeks. Vanessa had been upfront with him when she arrived, that she didn’t have her license back yet but the others couldn’t make it in time, and he hadn’t hesitated in shaking his head, in proclaiming his support for her regardless and leading her straight to the struggling mare.

 

He gives her his sincere thanks and the promise that he’ll shout her a drink or several in the pub - it’s not like she can send him a bill for something she wasn’t supposed to be doing after all - before Vanessa walks over to Charity standing a few feet away, arms crossed over her chest, a look of mild disgust on her face.

 

“Everything alright?” Vanessa asks when she reaches Charity, smothering the urge to take her hand to soothe her frown, conscious that Charity’ll probably want to keep her at an arm's length until she’s clean and showered.

 

“Just wonderful,” Charity says, a distant air about her, a look that Vanessa can’t quite place written across her face. “You’re all done?”

 

“Yeah, she’s stable now,” Vanessa explains, throwing a look over to the farmer, bent low next to the two animals. “He can take it from here. He’s more than capable, it’s just a little harder when the mother's in distress.”

 

“Distress is about right,” Charity replies, sounding just slightly _off_ , and Vanessa frowns, still not able to place her mood. She seems to shake herself out of it after a minute, looking to Vanessa with a faint smile. “Anything else you need to do? Or ready for home?”

 

“Nope, I’m ready,” Vanessa affirms, watching curiously as Charity gives her a quick smile and heads back towards Vanessa’s car.

 

There’s something off, alright, Vanessa thinks as she watches Charity turn and wait for her when she out-strides Vanessa in her haste to get away from the cold, she knows that for a certainty now.

 

She’s just not sure what the bloody hell it could be.

 

-

 

“You’re very quiet,” Vanessa says when she walks into Charity’s bedroom, towelling her hair dry after a long, hot shower.

 

She hasn’t really said more than a few words to Vanessa since they arrived back, she seems wholly distracted, almost spooked. Vanessa has a few hypotheses as to why Charity’s so quiet, and she’s aware that she’s probably about to walk straight into an argument, but it’s more important to her that she knows that Charity’s ok, so she takes the step anyway.

 

“Is everything alright?” Vanessa asks, sitting on Charity’s side of the bed and Charity looks up from her book, a well-worn copy of A Tale of Two Cities, to catch Vanessa’s eye. “I know it’s a bit of a mood killer, seeing something like that, but you’ve been a bit off since before we left. Did I…. are you upset with me for going?”

 

“Upset with you?” Charity questions, a genuinely surprised frown appearing on her forehead. “Why would I be upset with you, babe? Hero of the day, aren’t you?”

 

Her gaze lingers like she wants to say something else to Vanessa but she doesn’t, which only makes Vanessa’s worry deepen. She gives Vanessa a genuine smile before she goes back to her book though, leaving Vanessa so thoroughly confused that she asks Charity again before she can stop herself.

 

“Are you sure?” Vanessa queries gently, putting her hand on Charity’s leg. “Because it feels like there’s something you’re not saying and I always want you to… well, I don’t want you to ever feel like you can’t, say something that is, even if it might upset me.”

 

Charity sighs heavily, dropping her book face down in her lap properly and looking back to Vanessa with something like exhaustion on her face, and it makes Vanessa feel slightly nervous, but good - well, relieved anyway - because it really is important that Charity airs whatever’s bothering her.

 

“You and I both know full well I’ve never had any problem saying what’s on my mind, whether it’ll upset you or not, babe,” Charity says flatly, and Vanessa can’t help but laugh at that because she’s got a point. “But I’m not upset at you at all, alright?”

 

“Well, then what’s wrong?” Vanessa asks, a prickle of dread scratching the small of her back.

 

“Ness,” Charity says, exasperated, in the way that means she wants Vanessa to drop it, and normally Vanessa would but this feels important, so she doesn’t.

 

“Charity, please,” Vanessa tries again, and her shoulders round, the concern bending her back like an invisible hand is pushing her down.

 

“You’ll be the death of me, you will. Stubborn as a bleedin’ mule, aren’t you, ” Charity growls under her breath before looking at Vanessa with a scowl. “Okay, fine. I told you, I’m not upset with you, alright. I’m upset with myself.”

 

“Upset with yourself?” Vanessa asks, taken completely by surprise because whatever she had been expecting, it wasn’t that. “But, why?”

 

Charity glares at her like she _really_ doesn’t want to go into this, but Vanessa knows they need to air it, fixing her best attempt at pleading on her face, and Charity folds almost instantly.

 

“Because I know I make fun of what you do sometimes, but you’re bloody good at it, kid, you know that right?” Charity admits quietly, and Vanessa finds herself struck a little speechless. “I always thought you liked the gross stuff because you were a bit odd, yeah, endearing but odd, but you were good today, Ness. Really good. You’re made for that, aren’t you? Helping every Augustus and Destiny out there, that’s what you’re supposed to be doing with your life.”

 

“Well, someone’s gotta do it,” Vanessa shrugs, because she can’t think of anything more intelligent than that, she’s too distracted by the depth of Charity’s compliment.

 

“They don’t though, do they, babe?” Charity says with a snort. “They pick much easier stuff like bein’ a pub landlady. Look, I just feel like a tit because I’d assumed it was a bit of a blow, you being out of the biz for a year, but alright, you know? You might be bored stiff for twelve months, but that’s about it. I think it’s just sunk in, what it properly means for you, to have to be away from it for so long. Girlfriends are supposed to know that stuff, aren’t they? And I just didn’t.”

 

She sees flashes of Charity’s insecurity - of her completely devalued sense of her own self-worth despite the front she perpetuates, of being hard and resolute - less and less now, but they’re still there, those demons, raising their dark heads out of the shadow just when everything else feels okay.

 

“Charity,” Vanessa begins, taking her hand, suddenly desperate to soothe some of that deeply driven down pain before Charity shakes her head.

 

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m not suddenly breakable,” Charity snaps, rolling her eyes. “I just feel a bit shit, alright? That’s all, Miss Determined. Now, are you done? Can I get on with my night?”

 

She knows that Charity genuinely wants her to abandon it, could quite happily leave the whole thing there and not speak of it ever again, but Vanessa’s never been one to drop her worries and run. She’s never been one to do the same with a comment like that from Charity, either.

 

“You think I’m good at my job?” Vanessa asks, raising an eyebrow, shifting her body a little, thinking about how precariously the towel around her middle is held between her breasts, hoping the thought will find its way into Charity’s head as well, the high of Charity’s compliment buzzing on her skin.

 

She can see the annoyance hovering above Charity’s shoulders like a tangible, breathing thing, but it dissipates entirely when she catches the look and intent in Vanessa’s eyes, her gaze dropping to Vanessa’s chest.

 

“I think you’re good at a lot of things, Vanes _-sa_ ,” Charity enunciates smoothly, raising an eyebrow as she pulls the towel free and it slips, pooling at the small of Vanessa’s back and at her sides. “Not like me, clumsy thing aren’t I?”

 

“God, yeah,” Vanessa replies, as the smile reaches into her chest, wrapping itself around her heart. “A troublemaker, too. Firestarter. Shouldn’t be let out of my sight, really, should you?”

 

“ _Definitely_ not,” Charity says with the perfect imitation of seriousness, shaking her head, throwing the book onto her bedside table so she can push herself off the headboard, turning, moving her body in a way that Vanessa follows until Charity is pressing her back down into the mattress. “Probably shouldn’t leave the bed, really. For the greater good, innit?”

 

“I mean, I should probably hide out for a few days too, until Rhona doesn’t want to wring my neck anymore,” Vanessa beams, sliding her arms around Charity’s shoulders, dragging her nails against Charity’s scalp, splaying her fingers in Charity’s hair. “Hiding in here with you’s the logical option, really.”

 

“Well then,” Charity breathes, throwing the wet towels to the floor, leaning back to take in all of Vanessa, bare and exposed, only for her. She runs her hand palm-down in the dip between her breasts, smiling at the Vanessa shivers in response, at the way one of Vanessa’s hands moves, covering Charity’s, travelling together down the muscles of her stomach. “Can’t argue with that then, can I?”

 

“Absolutely not,” Vanessa growls, her own voice almost unrecognisable when Charity lays herself against the length of Vanessa’s body, skin burning, when her hand moves low and purposeful, when her bones crack with the sharpness of the arch in her back.

 

They’re perfect in their imperfection, Vanessa thinks - when Charity’s mouth glides down the column of her neck, when her fingers push and _twist_ and c u r l, when Charity calls, when Vanessa comes - their flaws a precise match. Dark and light. Night and day. Rage and patience.

 

“You’re a clever girl, Ness,” Charity offers as her fingers move deft and quick, orchestrating a gasp, a rush of blood to the skin, her blush hot. “But I’ve got a skill or two of my own, yeah?”

 

 

-

**Author's Note:**

> A bit of fun, right? Playful vanity is the best. 
> 
> I have a [tumblr](http://tigerlo.tumblr.com) with a few other vanity minifics if you want to pop over and check those out! Thanks for reading! x


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